In 1959, Nikita Khrustchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, visited the USA and stopped by Primorye on his way back. Impressed by America, Mr. Khrustchev decided that Vladivostok should have been better than San-Francisco. As a result of the “Big Vladivostok” project, a railway funicular began operating in the city – one of the two constructed in Russia. Hundreds of citizens flooded Pushkinskaya street on May 5, 1962, to see the first funicular passengers to travel 183 meters by the Orlinaya hill slope. The trip took one minute and a half. The passengers have hardly been able to enjoy the Golden Horn bay views during the trip.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
CHINA: 15 places worth visiting in China: Hongshui River
As a tributary of the Pearl River, Hongshui River originates at Mt.
Maxiong in Yunnan Province. There are villages and terraces on the
mountains and the clear water in the river acts as a mirror of the
surrounding areas.
2009-12-01 17:02 BJT
Editor: Jin Lin | Source: China.org.cn
Flying to Shanghai: Travel Gadgets
February 19, 2010 12:00 PM PST
by Heather Hopkins Clement
So far, so good. The lines at the ticket counter and security for LAX were not that long but they were slow moving. We departed a little later than the planned 9:24 AM departure, and I had to change planes in San Francisco before embarking on the long flight across the Pacific.
My general strategy for dealing with jet lag (going west) is to try to get on the new time schedule as quickly as possible. Getting only 45 minutes of sleep the night before insured that I was good and tired. As soon as I got onboard the plane in San Francisco, I took a melatonin and proceeded to sleep for the next 7-8 hours while we crossed over the Pacific. I woke up about 10:30 AM (Shanghai time) well rested and well on my way to acclimating to the new time zone.
I am enjoying trying out some of my new travel gadgets. I decided to purchase a 3-piece set of Landor & Hawa’s Sub-0-G luggage. It is some of the lightest luggage on the market weighing less than half the average bag. (I can pick up the largest bag with one finger when empty.) This gave me a nice cushion to insure my bags are under 50 lbs; no more redistributing articles from one bag to the next at the airport to make everything balance out or get stuck paying extra fees. I used my new hand-held digital luggage scale to confirm that all was well before I left home. It was nice to have that peace of mind before I got to the ticket counter—for a change.
For past cruises (2-3 weeks long), I have been able to keep my luggage to one check-in and one carry-on. However, for this 4 week+ journey, I had to break down and add a second check-in bag. I’m not looking forward to the luggage transfers, but I do feel like I’ve prepared most everything I need. I have been honing a very specific packing list for these cruise voyages which I will share online soon. So far, the only thing I think I forgot was to put my earrings on; so, I guess I will be getting a new pair of all-purpose gold earrings on this trip. I really try to be as prepared as possible, because purchasing all those incidentals along the way can nickel and dime you to death.
I am still evaluating some of my other new gadgets—weighing the pros and cons. I purchased some “travel tow” luggage handles. You attach them to your luggage with Velcro straps, and the handles rotate in any direction for ease of movement which was nice. However, you have to remove the handles before checking your bags in (to avoid any damage), and the handles are a bit on the bulky side. They take up more space than I would like in my carry-on.
Speaking of taking up space in my carry-on, that is a major downside with my new “slanket”—not to be confused with a “snuggie” which seems to be regarded as the inferior of the two from what I read online. The slanket is a good-sized fleece blanket with sleeves. After I took my melatonin, I snuggled up in it for a warm, cozy sleep. It is much more substantial than the standard issue airline blanket in terms of overall size and thickness which makes it much more comfortable. However, it is quite bulky, so I am not pleased that I had to allocate so much space in my carry-on for this one item. It’ll have to prove itself of additional benefit on other aspects of my trip, or I may have to reconsider bringing it the next time.
More on packing and travel gadgets later. I have enough time to get in a movie and meal now before we land in Shanghai. While I have been to Shanghai before, this will be my first time to fly into Pudong International and take the mag lev train into the city. That should be fun will all three of my bags (and purse and coat). Stay tuned . . .
SHANGHAI, CHINA: Shanghai shoppers spring into action
Lights, camera - wow ... sometimes you just get a special picture. As thousands of people flock to Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden last night, the final one of the week-long Spring Festival holiday, a spectacular combination of color, light and skyline is shown. The Year of the Tiger and World Expo Lantern Temple Fair at the garden attracted more than 2.2 million visitors during the break. And Shanghai shoppers went on a spending spree during the holiday.
2010-2-20
By Dong Zhenand Lu Feiran
The purse-strings are well and truly opened as Spring Festival holiday spending hit a record of about 5 billion yuan (US$731.95 million) in Shanghai.
Commerce authorities believe recovering consumer confidence about the economy is the linchpin.
A sample investigation into the Spring Festival sales market in the city found that the 460 major local retail and service companies turned over the amount during the week-long holiday that started on February 13, the Shanghai Commerce Commission said yesterday.
The result was the highest since 1999 when the commission first started compiling these statistics.
It eclipsed last year's Spring Festival holiday total by 15.8 percent, the commission said.
Retailers citywide also lent a hand by offering extensive discounts during the break.
"It was the first time in 57 years that Valentine's Day was the first day of the Lunar New Year," said Chen Yuxian, a commission official. "Holiday spending was definitely enhanced by the nice coincidence."
During the seven days, city supermarkets and convenience stores took 2.29 billion yuan, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier.
Online rush
"Supermarkets still remain the most attractive shopping location for consumers when they need to choose gifts and food for the festival," Chen said.
However, television and Internet retailers gained the biggest sales growth from a year earlier.
The sales investigation found online and TV shopping deals completed during the period soared by 28.2 percent from 2009.
The holiday tourism industry also boomed, thanks to the recovering economy and the approach of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.
The city received about 2.6 million tourists from both home and abroad during the holiday, up about 5 percent year on year.
Tourism revenue reached nearly 2.2 billion yuan for the period, up about 10 percent on last year, according to the Shanghai Holiday Office.
Scenic spots and Expo-themed events proved hugely popular.
For example, The Year of the Tiger and Expo Lantern Temple Fair at the Yuyuan Garden was the hottest event in the city, receiving more than 2.2 million visitors.
The Expo-oriented exhibition on peonies at the Shanghai Botanical Garden and the Expo Puzzle Temple Fair at Guyi Garden received more tourists than last year's Spring Festival, officials said.
Bird's-eye view
There was also a visitor increase to the Pudong New Area skyscrapers, such as the observatory of the Jinmao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center.
Officials said this was largely because more people wanted to see a bird's-eye view of the World Expo site.
"The Expo effect has started working in the city, helping the whole tourism industry to bounce back after the world economic downturn," said Li Ping, a holiday office official.
The number of Shanghai people who went abroad during the holiday also spiked sharply.
More than 59,440 people in about 3,000 tour groups went abroad, up a whopping 46 percent from last year's break.
Asian countries were still the most popular destinations for Shanghai residents.
As for the domestic market, north China and south China reigned supreme.
People either chose skiing in the north or sunshine in the south, the holiday office said.
KAMAKURA, JAPAN: Making soba a fresh tradition
Taste of the past: Stylish chairs and retro-furnishings complement the tatami and shoji screens of Matsubara-an, where traditional soba is matched with Western fare. ROBBIE SWINNERTON PHOTOS
Friday, Jan. 8, 2010
From the very first sip of aromatic otoso sake and steaming-hot ozoni soup, we always love the time-honored ritual and ceremony of New Year's in Japan. But even more than that, we like it when the hallowed traditions are brought up to date and placed in a contemporary context. That's the way they do it at Matsubara-an.
At first look, this restaurant in genteel Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, seems nothing but traditional. It occupies a stately, 70-year-old timber town house set in its own spacious garden. You enter through an imposing wooden gate and relinquish your shoes at the exquisite entrance hall. However, once inside, you find that appearances can be deceptive.
The main dining room is beautifully restored with impeccable shoji screens, period lampshades, retro furnishings and views out onto the garden. But the tatami mats are covered with carpets, and instead of zabuton cushions you sit at stylish modern tables and chairs.
Too often this kind of hybrid look can feel stilted and forced, but at Matsubara-an the mood is comfortably casual. A buzz of conversation drowns out the bossa nova emitting from the sound system. The waitresses are polite but friendly, putting you immediately at ease.
The menu reflects a similar blend of simplicity and sophistication; Japanese and Western, traditional and modern. The specialty of the house is te-uchi soba, buckwheat noodles that are prepared fresh each day, rolled out and cut by hand and served with considerable refinement. However, there's plenty more to explore at Matsubara-an besides noodles.
Just take a look at the mixed hors d'oeuvres plate. It features a selection of seven different dishes, including a couple of cuts of smoked duck; a smear of pate on a sliver of baguette; a cube of chilled tofu topped with savory miso; a slice or two of carpaccio; and various vegetable preparations.
Kamakura has a deserved reputation these days for the excellent produce grown in its coastal microclimate. Matsubara-an's version of bagna cauda showcases the local vegetables at their best. The colorful array of crisp vegetable sticks is accompanied by a thick, anchovy- and garlic-driven sauce that here is served cold rather than hot.
Italian influences: Matsubara-an's cold version of bagna cauda includes a colorful array of local vegetables.
Much of the seafood is landed nearby, especially the aji (jack) and shirasu (whitebait). But even greater emphasis is given to duck, which is served either grilled or simmered down in chunks in a rich broth, in much the same style as pork kakuni.
As at any soba restaurant worth its salt, Matsubara-an prides itself on the quality of its tempura. Rather than the standard-issue pair of jumbo prawns served elsewhere, it prepares crisp kaki-age patties packed with fresh shrimp, cuts of soft squid, jade-green shiso leaf and fragrant mitsuba herb.
RELATED STORY
Other soba houses to discover in Kamakura
These side dishes are all available a la carte throughout the day, but at lunchtime, two set menus are also offered. The ¥2,800 course comprises the hors d'oeuvres plate and a vegetable tempura, along with a serving of noodles — either seiro (cold with a dip) or kake (in hot soup). In the ¥4,000 course, you also get a plate of the grilled duck, plus dessert and a soft drink.
In the evening, though, Matsubara-an undergoes a change of character. The lights are dimmed and in place of out-of-town visitors it fills with locals, who settle in for leisurely dinners lubricated by sake, shochu, wine or whiskey from the well-stocked bar. In winter, nabe hotpots of pork or duck are added to the menu; throughout the year, there are steaks and seafood.
But what distinguishes Matsubara-an from just about any other soba restaurant we know are its garden tables. These are popular year-round, thanks to the overhead space heaters (blankets are also provided). But it is when the weather gets warmer that these come into their own.
They fill up with people out walking their dogs, families with young kids in tow, and even beachgoers. Where else can you sit down for tempura-soba dressed in shorts and a tank-top, to the accompaniment of sunshine and birdsong? That's the kind of reworking of tradition that we really love.
Matsubara-an lies well off the regular tourist trail, down a quiet side street in a residential district a good 15-minute walk from the center of the city. Even so, there are often lines outside at lunchtime. If you don't have a reservation, expect to wait up to an hour at weekends and especially on holidays.
Kamakura Matsubara-an
- Location: 4-10-3 Yuigahama, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken
(0467) 61-3838 - Open: Daily 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. (last order)
- Nearest stations: Yuigahama (Enoshima Dentetsu Line); Kamakura (JR Yokosuka Line)
- How to get there: As you exit Yuigahama Station turn sharply to the left, then take the first turning to the right. Follow this narrow street for a couple of minutes (past a ryokan called Kaihin-so). Turn left at the next side street, and you will see straight away on your right the traditional gate and white noren curtain at the entrance of Matsubara-an.
- What works: Beautifully converted premises in a tranquil spot
- What doesn't: Take a mosquito repellant if dining outside in the summer.
- Number of seats: 26 (plus 26 outside in the garden)
- BGM: Light jazz and bossa nova
- Smoking: Only permitted in the garden
- Price per head: Lunch courses (11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) ¥2,800 & ¥4,000; also a la carte (noodles from ¥900)
- Drinks: Beer from ¥700; umeshu from ¥600; sake from ¥500; shochu from ¥600; wine from ¥750/glass, from ¥3,500/bottle
- Credit cards: Major cards accepted
- Language: Japanese & English menus; little English spoken
- Reservations: Highly advisable at weekends and on holidays
DALIAN, CHINA: Russian Street
FROMMER’S:
The city recently made an effort to recapture some of its Russian history with Eluosi Fengqing Jie (Russian Street), a collection of mostly new Russian-style structures north of the railway cutout, above Shanghai Lu. The large, dilapidated yellow-brick building at the end of the street was the municipal government office when Russia still controlled the city.
RUSSIA: On this day: 20 February
On February 20, 1901, the Russian Orthodox Church laid the Count Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer, under an interdict, because his public statements were contradictory to the articles of the orthodox belief.
Tolstoy was baptized orthodox, but had never been a true believer, though he often reflected on the religion. In 1855, he decided to create his own doctrine, based on Christianity,
“the new religion, appropriate for the level of development of the humankind, the religion of Christ, cleaned of the belief and the mystery, the practical religion, not promising the beatitude, but giving the beatitude.”
He fully described his doctrine in the article “The Confession,” written in 1882 and in the novel “Resurrection,” written in 1899.
Tolstoy’s ideas inspired people, and in the beginning of 1880s, the “Tolstoyans” movement started. The Tolstoyans preached humanism and pacifism, so the followers of the movement refused to join the army. They denied the necessity of the public authorities, and appealed to the natural peoples desire to help each other. The majority of the Tolstoyans were vegetarians; they did not smoke or drink alcohol.
The religious views of the Tolstoyans were synthetic and had many things in common not only with Christianity, but also Buddhism, and Islam. However, the Bible was just a code of the ethical rules for them. They did not appreciate the Orthodox Church hierarchy and the articles of faith.
They did not believe in the divinity of Christ, in the Virgin Birth and in the Trinity, and replaced the Ten Commandments with five:
“turn the other cheek”,
“do not commit adultery”,
do not litigate with anyone”,
“do not swear”, and
“do not steal.”
The Tolstoyans founded a publishing house in St. Petersburg to publish the fiction books and articles by Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and other authors, and handbooks about agriculture, medicine, and cattle-breeding. The Tolstoyans distributed books among peasants, and made a significant contribution to the public education.
In the middle of the 1880s, the colonies of the Tolstoyans appeared all over the country and outside it. The people from Europe, Japan, and India joined the Tolstoyans. Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the India independence movement, supported Tolstoy’s doctrine.
At the end of 1880s, the church hierarchs started to appeal to the Emperor Alexander III and to the Sinod, the highest administrative organ of the church, asking them to punish Tolstoy and to lay him under an interdict. The Emperor refused – he did not want to make a martyr out of Tolstoy. After Alexander’s death, the next Emperor, Nicholas II, gave ear to their appeals, and agreed with them.
In 1897, the Sinod declared the Tolstoyans movement a dangerous sect. When Tolstoy was excommunicated, the government started to arrest his followers. The movement disintegrated and was forgotten soon.
View RT ArticleBUDDHISM: Tiger Woods' apology brings new attention to Buddhism
February 19, 2010 8:43 p.m. EST
By Dan Gilgoff, CNN
'I had affairs, I cheated'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Woods: "People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist"
- Golf great, addressing controversy on Friday, says he had "drifted" from his faith
- "Woods was quite accurate" in his summation of Buddhism, one scholar says
- After affairs made news, Fox's Brit Hume publicly urged Woods to embrace Christianity
(CNN) -- When Tiger Woods invoked his religious faith during his public apology on Friday, he readily acknowledged that a lot of people would be surprised.
"People probably don't realize it," he said, "but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years."
But Woods said his Buddhist faith would be a key part of his quest to put his life back together after revelations of his marital infidelity, which he admitted for the first time. Buddhist experts said Woods' summation of the tradition's beliefs was accurate -- and that his remarks likely will bring more attention to the faith in a week when its highest profile leader, the Dalai Lama, is visiting the United States.
"I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it," Woods said, reading a statement from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. "Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age."
"Buddhism teaches that a creation of things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security," he continued. "It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught."
A handful of Buddhist scholars said Woods' description of Buddhist teaching was spot on. "Woods was quite accurate," said Janet Gyatso, a professor of Buddhist studies at Harvard University.
"Craving causes unhappiness. That's a fundamental Buddhist idea."
A 1996 Sports Illustrated profile suggested that Woods--then in his early 20s -- took his faith seriously. He visited a Buddhist temple with his mother each year around his birthday, slept near a mother-of-pearl Buddha from his Thai grandfather, and wore a gold Buddha around his neck, according to the profile. Woods' mother, Kultilda, is a Thai-born Buddhist.
"I like Buddhism because it's a whole way of being and living," Tiger Woods told Sports Illustrated. "It's based on discipline and respect and personal responsibility. I like Asian culture better than ours because of that."
When allegations of Woods' infidelity began emerging after a November 27 car accident, Fox News Channel host Brit Hume stirred controversy by publicly advising the golf pro to become a Christian.
You're always beginning again in the Buddhist tradition.
--John Kornfield, California-based Buddhist teacher
RELATED TOPICS
"He's said to be a Buddhist -- I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith," Hume said. "So my message to Tiger would be: Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."
But Buddhist scholars say that forgiveness and redemption are core components of the faith.
"You're always beginning again in the Buddhist tradition," said John Kornfield, a prominent Buddhist teacher based in California. "You see that you're causing harm, you repent and ask forgiveness in some formal or informal way, and you start again."
Some Buddhism experts said that's what Woods appeared to be trying to do today. Many Buddhists applauded Woods' statement.
"The fact that people could see this kind of behavior causes suffering is an incredibly important message for all kinds of people who respect Woods," said Kornfield.
Buddhism was in the spotlight this week before Woods' remarks, with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama -- a Buddhist -- meeting with President Obama in Washington on Thursday.
Buddhism is among the world's largest religions, with about 350 million adherents, including about 1.2 million in the United States, according to a 2009 report by Trinity College. The faith began in India about 2,500 years ago.
RUSSIA: Russian church leaders defend marriage, speak out on family crisis
20:2704/02/2010
Russian Orthodox Church leaders called on Christians on Thursday to be firm in defending traditional marriage and lamented the family crisis in the country.
According to some estimates, over half of the marriages in Russia end in divorce. Women in the 140-million-strong country undergo some 1.5 million abortions annually.
"We, Christians of different denominations, should profess the inviolability of the evangelic norms on the holy matrimony between man and woman," Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in a welcome message to participants of an inter-Christian forum for former Soviet republics held in Moscow.
Christians, he said, should "openly testify that deviation from the God-given fundamentals of marriage cannot contribute to forming a healthy individual."
Another top church official, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk who heads the Russian Orthodox Church's external relations department, criticized today's morality.
"Today the scale of priorities for many people looks totally different than what is in line with Christian tradition. Freedom, permissiveness, acquisitiveness, lust for success and career aspirations are in first place rather than traditional spiritual and moral values, family, marital fidelity or giving birth to children and raising them," he said.
"Abandoned children, a huge number of divorces... a high number of suicides and abortions indicate a deep crisis for the family and social relations," Hilarion said.
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti)
View Article in RIA NovostiThursday, February 18, 2010
OSAKA, JAPAN: Osaka Castle & Museum
I have to start with a confession; I’m a Japanese castle snob. After seeing numerous castles throughout Japan, I simply am not a fan of recently reconstructed concrete castles. So, if my cruise ship stopped at the port of Osaka for the day and I wanted to see a Japanese castle,without a doubt my first stop would be Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As the prototypical Japanese castle, Himeji Castle is the most visited in all of Japan, and I highly recommend it.
On second thought, I guess I have another confession. After having lived and worked in Osaka, I consider it my Japanese hometown, and the castle is an iconic symbol of the city. The castle figures significantly in several major historical events of Japanese history in the feudal period. So, for historical and sentimental reasons, I still think it is well worth a visit—it just would not be my first or one and only stop in the area.
Before I go into more specifics about the castle’s cultural and historical significance, let me give you the basic info:
- Address: 1-1 Osaka-jo, Chuo-ku, Osaka City 540-0002
- Tel.: +81-(0)6-6941-3044
- Hours: 9 AM to 5 PM daily, but last entrance is at 4:30
- Admission: 600 yen for adults; free for children 15 and under; group discount available for group of 15+
- Accessibility: Elevator available. Restrooms are located on the second floor only.
- Website: http://www.osakacastle.net/english/ (also available in Chinese and Korean)
- Time Required: 2 hours+
Osaka Castle is the backdrop for some pretty interesting historical events involving the so-called “Three Great Unifiers of Japan”:
The original castle was built in 1496. During his campaign to unify the country, warlord Oda Nobunaga burned the castle to the ground in 1580. His successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, rebuilt the castle. Upon the death of Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, took control of the castle in 1615 as his consolidated his power to set up rule by Tokugawa shoguns for the next 250+ years.
The castle fell into disrepair throughout the next few centuries and was damaged by bombing raids on the city during WWII. The current structure is a concrete facade.
Inside the castle, you can view historical artifacts in the Osaka Castle Tower Museum. If you make your way to the top of the castle tower, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city from the observation deck that stands 50 meter above the ground.
The castle grounds are a nice place to people watch too. In the early spring, it is a great place to view cherry blossoms, and you will see people out exercising and enjoying picnics together in the park. You may want to try out a local delicacy from one of the street vendors.
How to get to Osaka Castle from Tempozan Pier:
Walk about 5 minutes to the nearest subway station, Osaka-ko, on the Chuo (Green) Subway line. You will want to board the train on platform #1 to head towards the castle.
A. KAIYUKAN Aquarium
B. Market Place(shops and restaurants)
C. Giant Ferris Wheel
D. Suntory Museum
E. Hotel Seagull Tempozan Osaka
F. Osaka Bay Cruise (Santa Maria)
G. Cruise to USJ port (Captain Line)
H. Tempozan Park including Mt. Tempozan, the lowest mountain in Japan
I. Cruise to Kobe, Shodoshima island and Takamatsu in Shikoku island
J. Tourist Information
K. KAIYUKAN Information (on the second floor of Entrance Building)
A - G, J and K: Tempozan Harbor Village
From there, the fastest route is the take the green line to Tanimachi-4-chome (about 30 minutes). From that station, take the closest exit to the castle—Exit 1B. It’s about a 20 minute walk from there, so this is a good opportunity to interest with the locals to make sure you are headed in the right direction.
You can also take a slightly longer, more circuitous route to view the city from your train en route. To do so, take the Chuo (Green) Subway line from Osaka-ko to Bentencho. From there, you will need to purchase a second ticket to ride on the JR Osaka Loop lLne to Osaka-jo Koen (Osaka Castle Park) station. From here, you will still have another 20 minute walk.
FUKUOKA, JAPAN: Dazaifu’s Tower of the City (Tofuro)
GATEWAY TO JAPAN:
- Located in Dazaifu, 500 m from Kanzeon-ji
- Hours: 9:00 – 16:30; closed M, mid-Aug, NY
Like Taga-ju near Sendai in Tohoku, this was an outpost of the Yamato government against independent and rebellious tribes, such as the Kumaso in south Kyushu. Dazaifu was also used as a staging areas for military adventures in Korea. When Japan’s ally Paekche capitulated to Silla and Tang China, the Japanese, fearing invasion, fortified the area even more strongly. As the government headquarters of Kyushu, Dazaifu was built on a rectilinear plan, similar to Nara, but at about half the scale. The foundation stones of the Tofuro, which was the heart of Dazaifu, show the outlines of several buildings arranged axially within a surrounding wall. A small museum occupies the southeast corner of the site.
SHANGHAI, CHINA: Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre
A scale model of Shanghai in 2020 spans an entire floor at the Urban Planning Museum in People's Square. Ariana Lindquist for The New York Times
- Address: Renmin Da Dao 100, Shanghai
- Location: Huangpu (northeast of the Shanghai Museum; entrance on east side)
- Phone: 021/6372-2077
- Price: Admission ¥30 ($4.30/£2.15)
This museum tells the story of Shanghai’s evolution with a spectacular collection of archival photos, meaningless but beautiful exhibitions on wastewater management and other public works, and a scale model of Shanghai circa 2020 that spanned an entire floor. Virtual Shanghai, a computer-generated flyover of the city projected onto a 360-degree movie screen was the highlight. The camera swoops along highways, over the Huangpu and around the Pudong skyscrapers of an idealized city that may or may not exist. The souvenir shop carries Hu Yang’s “Shanghai Living” catalog — 140 photographic glimpses of the city’s present, frozen in time.
FROMMER’S:
Filmmakers and science-fiction writers have imagined it, but if you want to see what a city of the future is really going to look like, take yourself over to this museum on the eastern end of People's Square. Housed in a striking modern five-story building made of microlite glass, this is one of the world's largest showcases of urban development and is much more interesting than its dry name suggests. The highlight is on the third floor: an awesome vast scale model of urban Shanghai as it will look in 2020, a master plan full of endless skyscrapers punctuated occasionally by patches of green. The clear plastic models indicate structures yet to be built, and there are many of them. Beleaguered Shanghai residents wondering if their current cramped downtown houses will survive the bulldozer (chances are not good) need only look here for the answer. The fourth floor also offers displays on proposed forms of future transportation, including magnetic levitation (maglev), subway, and light-rail trains that are going to change even the face of the Bund. The rest of the building includes a U-shaped mezzanine with photographic exhibits of colonial and contemporary Shanghai, a temporary exhibit hall on the second floor, and a cafe and art gallery on the fifth. There are restaurants and retail outlets crafted in the style of 1930s Shanghai on the underground level that connects to the Metro. The museum is well worth an hour of your time.
NATIONAL GEOGRPAHIC TRAVELER:
“Back to the future Shanghai-style: exultant visions of the Shanghai to come.”—Damian Harper. Museum features miniature replica of Shanghai today (ground floor) and a scale model of the city’s future (entire third floor); exhibits chronicle Shanghai’s colorful history. 100 Renmin Dadao; tel. 86 21 6318 4477.
LONELY PLANET:
Urban Planning Exhibition Halls - where the creaking cities of yore are triumphantly redesigned by developers into fabulous metropolitan visions - are all the rage in New China (Běijīng has one). It's pitched as a tourist attraction, but this is really just a massively optimistic self-appraisal. Most Western visitors are in town to see how the city used to be rather than how it may be.
The diorama of the Shanghai of the future on the third floor is worth a circuit, while the brilliant (albeit self-congratulating) Virtual World 3-D wraparound tour of Shanghai is a dizzying computer simulated tour. Balancing it all out are photos of 1930s Shanghai and historic maps, and topping it all is a café and observation lounge. Exit the building through a basement street of mock 1930s cafés.
CHINA: 15 places worth visiting in China: terraced rice fields in Yuanyang county
The terraced rice fields in Yuanyang county, Yunnan Province have
been cultivated for at least 1,300 years by the Hani people. The
fields are mainly located 1,000 to 2,000 meters above sea level.
Rice can grow only once a year in the fields. Crops in the terraced
fields are planted every April and harvested from mid-September to
mid-November.
2009-12-01 17:02 BJT
Editor: Jin Lin | Source: China.org.cn
RUSSIA: On this day: 19 February
On February 19, 1861, Emperor Alexander II carried out the first and the most important of his reforms – he declared the abolishment of serfdom in the Russian Empire to improve the Russian economy and avert a possible revolution.
The history of serfdom in Russia began in 1649, when Tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich issued a decree which prohibited peasants from leaving their lands and gave landowners full control over the peasants. This decree was followed by a number of others depriving peasants of their personal liberty and turned them into actual slaves – into “baptized property”. The peasants had to work for their owners and to pay them labor rent, while the owners had the right to buy and sell them, often separating families; to punish them; and even to exile them to Siberia for crimes such as escape attempts or for trying to dodge army recruitment.
The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) exposed all the drawbacks of Russian industry, economy and agriculture, and served as a trigger for Alexander’s II reforms. That war put the peasantry in hard straits. For war purposes, the government had raised taxes, regularly commandeered peasants’ horses and cattle, and conducted extra recruitment among serfs. At the time the service lasted for 20 years, and that considerably affected landowners’ incomes, which in turn led to landowners increasing labor rents. Recruited serfs were also treated with scorn and were often left hungry and poorly equipped.
In 1857, 192 mass riots took place, and in 1859 there were already 938 riots. Sometimes, the peasants of several neighbor villages rose together against their owners. The armed clashes between the rebels and the military forces became frequent. The country was ripe for revolution, and the reform was meant to prevent the upcoming catastrophe.
The “Royal Manifest of the Abolishment of Serfdom” returned personal liberty and civil rights to serfs. The landowners were obliged to give them plots of land, and a special commission defined the sizes of those plots. However, nine years after liberation the peasants still had to pay the rent for the given land and to work for the landowners. Only at the end of the term were they able to redeem the rented plots.
The reform brought Alexander II the nickname “Liberator”, but the terms offered by the Royal Manifest actually supported the interests of the landowners and the government. The plots given to the peasants were usually small scraps of soil, inconveniently placed and often infertile. If the peasant wanted to redeem the land, the government lent him 80% of its price out at 6% per year, demanding the payment to be stretched over a period of 50 years no less. Former serfs ended up paying about 300% of the actual cost of their lands.
However, the liberation of the serfs amended the Russian economic situation. The peasantry became an active part of the economy, entering exchange relations, and the inner market started to develop. Many peasants left the countryside, moved to the cities and turned into wage laborers, becoming a part of the qualified industrial force. Still, the reform failed to develop agriculture, and for a long time it remained backward.
VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA: Passenger ship terminal
Source: Google & Russian Railways
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
EARTHQUAKE UPDATE: Magnitude 6.7 Quake Hits North Korea’s North Border
February 18, 2010, 01:26 AM EST
By Bomi Lim and Stuart Biggs
Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck close to North Korea’s northeastern border with China and Russia today. The temblor’s depth indicated it was unlikely to have caused extensive damage or triggered by an explosion.
The quake, within Russian territory, occurred at 10:13 a.m. local time, 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of North Korea’s Chongjin at a depth of 562.5 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
“Our preliminary assessment is that it is highly unlikely the quake was caused by a nuclear test, given the depth of the epicenter,” Kim Young Sun, spokesman at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters today in Seoul.
Kim didn’t give further details, saying the government is still looking into the matter.
North Korea’s two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 triggered tremors that were of less magnitude than that of today’s earthquake. The May 2009 explosion of an atomic device caused a 4.7-magnitude quake at 10 kilometers below the earth’s surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said then.
Chongjin, located in North Hamkyong province, is a key port city for North Korean trade with China. The province is also home to the country’s Rason economic zone.
Earthquake damage diminishes the deeper the temblor is from the earth’s surface, according to the Institute of Crustal Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The magnitude-7 quake on Jan. 12 in Haiti, which killed about 250,000 people, struck at a depth of 13 kilometers.
--Editors: Bill Austin, Aaron Sheldrick
CHINA: 15 places worth visiting in China: Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous prefecture
National Park and Siguniang Mountain.
2009-12-01 17:02 BJT
Editor: Jin Lin | Source: China.org.cn
EARTHQUAKE UPDATE: Geographic Location
Earthquake Date and Time: February 18, 2010 01:13:17 GMT
By QuakeTracker
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake, China-Russia-North Korea border region
The geographic location of this earthquake was at 42.5606 latitude, 130.8356 longitude.
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake, China-Russia-North Korea border region
NEWS FLASH: USGS: 6..8 Earthquake Rocks China-Russia-N.Korea
Feb 17, 2010 5:40 pm US/Pacific
USGS: 6.8 Earthquake Rocks China-Russia-N.Korea
BEIJING (AP) ―
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck Thursday morning in the region where China, Russia and North Korea meet, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The temblor hit about 9:15 a.m., and office towers in Beijing swayed slightly for about a minute.
The USGS said the quake was centered on the Russian coast along the sea of Japan, 61 miles (98 kilometers) west-southwest of Vladivostok, Russia and about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east from Yanji city in northeast China's Jilin province.
A man at the Jilin province earthquake bureau said the agency was trying to get more information and did not have any immediate details.
OLYMPICS: Ice Hockey: Thirteen's lucky for US, China crash
|
Vancouver (AFP) - The United States followed up their 12-1 win over China with a 13-0 demolition of Russia in the Olympic Games women's ice hockey tournament on Tuesday. USA opened the scoring when Monique Lamoureux found herself alone in the slot and with her twin sister Jocelyne causing problems for net-minder Anna Prugova, Monique hit the opener at 2:19. Four more goals followed in the first period with Jenny Potter on her way to her second hat-trick in as many games, with a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal. Caitlin Cahow then added another power-play goal at 12:57. Karen Thatcher rounded out the opening period scoring with her first Olympic goal at 9:54. Russia were short-handed for much of the second period, accumulating six penalties and allowing the US to score four more during that time. Angela Ruggiero, Kelli Stack, Natalie Darwitz and Molly Engstrom all found the net within seconds of a Russian player going to the penalty box. Jocelyne Lamoureux scored at 6:01 before Russia changed net-minders after Darwitz's second short-handed goal at 31:00. Potter greeted replacement Mariya Onolbaeva with her third goal of the day at 31:46. Lisa Chesson scored the USA's 13th goal on another powerplay at 1:05 of the third. Prugova and Onolbaeva faced a total of 34 shots on goal, making only 21 saves while, at the other end, Jessie Vetter stopped all seven shots she faced. US coach Mark Johnson said that despite the scoreline, teams like Russia can only get better by facing his side as well as Canada who started their campaign with an Olympic record 18-0 defeat of Slovakia.
"We respected our opponents, didn't try to do things that would embarrass them or ourselves. You have to respect the game. As a coach you'll be on both sides of the aisle. Their players are doing the same things we are, playing in the Olympics.
Finland came from behind to secure a spot in the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over China. Wang Linuo put China ahead but Finland struck back in the second period with 14 seconds left on a slashing penalty to Liu Zhixin. Karoliina Rantamaki brought the puck from behind China's net and her shot was deflected off Jin Fengling past her goalkeeper Shi Yao. Finland grabbed the winner when Venla Hovi slipped a backhand shot through Shi's legs.
The game grew increasingly rough with the two teams racking up 30 minutes in penalties between them during the game, with China accounting for 20 of them. |
DALIAN, CHINA: Dalian Wax Museum - everybody from Hitler to Jackie Chan stands at attention
By: eMarketingEye
Dalian is a much sought after tourist spot among leisure travelers for its contemporary city feel, warm weather and coastline. The number of museums found in Dalian is nowhere near the sum of museums and art galleries put up in Shanghai or Beijing. However, Dalian puts forward a respectable account of itself through quite a lot of institutions. These institutions display the area's one of a kind legacy. The amusing and interesting wax museum along with the traditional works of art of Lushun Hall is some of the attractions in Dalian.
The Dalian Wax Museum is the biggest in China and features one hundred celebrity figures. The European style structure has prominent global celebrities like multi billionaire Bill Gates, acclaimed actress Julia Roberts, basketball legend Michael Jordan, China’s own Jackie Chan, and the former United States President Bill Clinton. In addition, there are local stars from Asia also featured in the museum. Moreover, the Dalian Waxwork Museum remakes a lot of well known scenes from entertainment classics, comprising the Titanic and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
The Dalian Wax Museum will definitely be a delight for the children as it is a true to form, and an out of the ordinary wax museum with a wide range of politicians, famous figures and other remarkable persons. Also, the entry price is sufficiently small to make the Dalian Wax Museum worth a visit.
There are also customary Chinese social scenes that have been produced in wax, together with imaginative interpretations from Western icons such as Romeo and Juliet and Jane Eyre.
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry
OLYMPICS: Quotes: Who said what at Vancouver Olympic Winter Games
| Vancouver (AFP) - Who said what at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games on Tuesday: FIGURE SKATING
ICE HOCKEY
SKELETON
|
DALIAN, CHINA: Dalian Wax Museum (Laxiang Bowuguan)
FROMMER’S
About 100m (328 ft.) north of the station is the Dalian Wax Museum (Laxiang Bowuguan; tel. 0411/8790-2006; open 8am-5pm), where for ¥30 ($3.90/£1.95) you can stroll past replicas of Jackie Chan, Sun Yat-sen, Adolf Hitler, Zhang Ziyi, and Kate Winslet -- direct from the set of Titantic, with piped-in Celine Dion music.
JAPAN AT THE OLYMPICS: Figure skating: Takahashi keeps Japan's gold hopes alive
Feb 16, 2010
Vancouver (AFP) - Daisuke Takahashi boosted Japan's bid for their first medal in Olympic men's figure skating as he virtually tied with titleholder Yevgeny Plushenko and world champion Evan Lysacek in Tuesday's short programme.
Takahashi, the 2007 world silver medallist, is sitting third just 0.60 points behind Russia's Plushenko with American Lysacek a fractional 0.05 ahead of the Japanese skater going into Thursday's free skating final.
"It was my best performance of the season," said Takahashi, who scored 90.25 points after Plushenko topped the leaderboard with 90.85.
"The audience was really good, there were lots of fans and Japanese flags and that really helped. I am glad because I haven't scored so high in a long while."
The 23-year-old claimed his fourth national title in December, underlining his comeback from knee injury which forced him to miss the 2008-2009 season.
"I'm not that much behind Plushenko on points. It is great that I don't feel under pressure going into the free skate," the Japanese added.
Takahashi's score bettered his personal best of 89.95 in competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), although he scored higher points in domestic events.
Nobunari Oda, 22, the runner-up to Lysacek at the Grand Prix Final in December, is within striking distance of the podium as he sits fourth with 84.85 points.
Another Japanese, 20-year-old Takahiko Kozuka, placed eighth with 79.59.
"My biggest task in free skating is to finish without a mistake and keep up the levels of my spins and steps," said Takahashi, who finished eighth on his Olympic debut in Turin in 2006.
Takahashi skated a clean short programme, opening with a triple axel and a triple lutz-triple toeloop combination.
Skating to the music of Eye by Coba, he hit level four in a flying sit spin, a straight line step sequence and change-foot spins. He punched the air at the end to a roaring crowd including Japanese waving scores of red-sun national flags.
Unlike Plushenko, neither the Japanese trio nor Lysacek attempted the high-scoring but technically demanding quadruple jump.
But the Japanese have repeatedly said that a quadruple could help them to the Olympic podium.
"Since the Nagano Olympics so many people are trying the quad jump. I think it's necessary for something like the Olympics," said Takahashi.
"To be successful I think I would like to include the quad jump in my performance. I think it's important for the future of figure skating."
Oda, who won two Grand Prix events in Paris and Beijing this season, said:
"I intend to work it in my free programme after seeing how I do it tomorrow."
Kozuka, the 2008 Grand Prix Final runner-up, said:
"I have nailed the (quadruple) jump at my will in training every day. I believe my coach (Nobuo Sato) will let me challenge that."
The Japanese men are hoping to emulate the success of their female compatriots in the Olympics.
Shizuka Arakawa won the women's title in Turin to lift Asia's first Olympic figure skating gold medal. In 1992, Midori Ito won the women's silver.
S. KOREA: Top 10 Foods: Bulgogi
Bulgogi, well known overseas In the 1950s of Korea, some restaurants offered roast meat after cutting into thin slices, which helped shorten cooking time and make meat tender, as thick meat was generally tough and not grilled fast. Later, cooking utensil was changed from grill to pan, enabling guests to put boiled rice into beef gravy gathered on the pan. Thus, ordinary people who could not afford the expensive meat often could eat meat and rice more economically. This method of roasting meat slice on a pan has continued and expanded, which has become bulgogi of today.
Bulgogi and Galbigui (grilled beef ribs) are the most favored foods of the Koreans. Of all the Korean dishes, perhaps bulgogi is most widely known overseas. Bulgogi not only represents Korean food but also symbolizes the food roasting culture of Korea. As bulgogi is not pungent, foreigners who experience the food first time can enjoy its taste easily. Through bulgogi, garlic and soybean paste that are the main ingredients of bulgogi condiments can be also experienced.
Roasting meat while seasoning them on-site is not the only way of cooking bulgogi. ‘Hot pepper paste bulgogi’ is a kind of bulgogi cooked by storing meat in hot pepper paste for some time before roasting them. In the past, there was ‘soybean paste bulgogi’ but it has faded away since the method of using hot pepper paste was introduced. Pork can be also roasted after seasoning or burying them in hot pepper paste.
Normally bulgogi is eaten along with kimchi and ssam (wrapping in lettuce or leafy vegetable). In many cases, Korean foods are not taken as a single dish but taken together with other foods. This habit has been cultivated through long experience that certain combinations of foods, when taken together, bring about harmony and synergy effect in taste and nutrition.
To eat with ssam, bulgogi is laid on lettuce or leafy vegetable and added with a little soybean paste before wrapping and putting it into mouth. Vegetables mainly used for ssam are lettuce and green perilla, and sometimes crown daisy, dandelion and aster leaves are used.
The custom of eating ssam is a unique culture found only in some areas of Mongolia in addition to Korea. 'Ssamjang' (ssam paste) has been developed not long ago, which is prepared by mixing soybean paste with hot pepper paste in a suitable proportion to generate best taste of ssam.
Taking rice, vegetables and ssam paste together with bulgogi will not only help achieve harmonized nutrition but also remove greasy taste arising from dining on meat. Besides ssam, kimchi is also a desirable side dish to accompany bulgogi, as it helps reduce fatty taste of meat.
EARTHQUAKE UPDATE: Quake rocks China-Russia-North Korea border region
Associated Press, 02.17.10, 10:18 PM EST
BEIJING -- A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocked the region where China, Russia and North Korea meet Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Though area residents said they did not feel the quake, office towers in Beijing - about 770 miles (1,240 kilometers) away from the epicenter - swayed slightly for about a minute.
The quake occurred 335 miles (540 kilometers) below the earth's surface.
With earthquakes centered deep underground, sometimes those close to the epicenter don't feel it while people further away notice some shaking, said the duty officer at the Seismological Bureau of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in northeast China's Jilin province. He refused to give his name as is common among Chinese officials.
The Korea Earthquake Research Center said there was no damage in North or South Korea and that quakes occur in that region about once a year.
The USGS said the epicenter was on the Russian coast along the Sea of Japan, 61 miles (98 kilometers) west-southwest of Vladivostok, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east of China's Yanji city in Jilin province.
OLYMPICS: Mixed bag for Americans in short program
Johnny Weir
Posted: Feb 17, 2:26a ET | Updated: Feb 17, 2:56a ET
VANCOUVER (AP) -- While Evan Lysacek thinks about dusting off a special spot in his trophy case,Johnny Weir , well, just plain dusts.
Lysacek left the Pacific Coliseum on Tuesday night in second place after the men's short program. One more dynamic performance in the free skate and the defending world champion will leave the Vancouver Olympics with a medal. Maybe even gold.
"I had some pressure coming in as a reigning world champion and I felt it," Lysacek said. "To be able to go out and silence all of that really felt good."
Weir is sixth and will need help to even get on the podium, trailing Japan's Daisuke Takahashi by 8.15 points for the third spot. He was so edgy heading into competition that Weir broke out the cleaning spray at the apartment he shares with ice dancer Tanith Belbin in the athletes' village.
"Last night I was nervous, so I Pledged everything," he said. "Some people eat, some people drink, some people smoke. I Pledge."
The third American, two-time national champion Jeremy Abbott , was "heartbroken" after flopping his way to 15th.
"I don't where it went wrong and I don't know why," said Abbott. who skated exceptionally well at the U.S. championships last month.
Nothing went wrong for Lysacek, whose shot at a medal in 2006 was ruined when, ravaged by flu, he crashed his way to 10th place in the short program. His brilliant free skate got him up to fourth.
Now he can put that behind him.
Lysacek will go first in the final group Thursday night. Takahashi, just .05 behind Lysacek, has the third-from-last spot, followed by Weir and Plushenko.
That leaves Lysacek needing to post a high number and hope it's enough to make him the first American winner of Olympic men's gold since Brian Boitano in 1988.
But he knows how difficult it will be to overtake Plushenko, who could become the games' first repeat gold medalist in men's figure skating since Dick Button in 1952.
"He has one major advantage over everyone, and that's an Olympic gold medal," Lysacek said. "He has power mentally because he has what we all want. I think it's going to take some mighty fine skating to get that power away from him."
Weir isn't concerned about challenging Plushenko. He didn't consider himself a medals possibility when he arrived in Vancouver, even though he's won three U.S. titles and, as recently as 2008, took world bronze.
"I actually had fun tonight, and that's something I haven't been able to say for a long time," said Weir, who quit for a few weeks last spring after bombing so badly at the U.S. championships he failed to make the world team. "I felt like I really showed my heart."
Abbott couldn't complete a triple axel or a triple lutz. Still, he promised not to pack it in despite having little shot at a high placement.
"I'm going to have to do a lot of digging in the next two days, because I'm not going to give up," he said. "I'm not going to leave it here. I'm not going to leave my games on that experience."
Related to this article
Video
Men's Short: Johnny Weir
Johnny Weir performs his short program in Vancouver
- Weir sings karaoke
- Weir designs his own costume
- Men's Short: Evan Lysacek
Slideshows
Johnny Weir in Vancouver
Johnny Weir at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
- Model Olympian: Johnny Weir
- Evan Lysacek in Vancouver
- Model Olympian: Evan Lysacek
- Model Olympian: Jeremy Abbott
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